Story :
Akira is a black and white serial manga or graphic novel by Katsuhiro Otomo. Set in a post-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo, the work uses conventions of the cyberpunk genre to detail a saga of turmoil. Initially serialised in the pages of Young Magazine from 1982 until 1990, the work was collected in six volumes upon completion by Japanese publisher Kodansha. The work was first published in an English language version by the Marvel Comics imprint Epic Comics, one of the first manga works to be translated in entirety. Otomo's art on the series is considered outstanding, and the work is a breakthrough for both Otomo and the manga form. An identically titled anime film adaptation was released in 1988 after releasing 5 comics, shortening the plot, but with its structure and scenes heavily informed by the manga and its serial origins.
The manga takes place in a vastly larger timeframe than the film and involves a far wider array of characters and subplots. Through the breadth of the work, Otomo explicates themes of social isolation, corruption and power.
Otomo's Akira projects – the manga and its film adaptation – marked his transition from a career primarily in the creation and design of printed manga to one almost exclusively in the creation, direction and design of anime motion pictures and television.
Shōtarō Kaneda is a teenage delinquent and the leader of a motorcycle gang (known as The Capsules, not mentioned in the anime adaptation, but his clothing contains pictures of capsules). Kaneda is best friends with Tetsuo, a Capsule member, but that friendship is shattered after Tetsuo gains and abuses his psychic powers. Kaneda is the main protagonist of Akira. According to Akira Club, Kaneda was inspired by the boy lead from Tetsujin 28. Due to his influence on Tetsuo, Kaneda is the only regular person who without aid can physically hurt him, even after he has gained his powers. Shōtarō is voiced by Mitsuo Iwata in the Japanese version of the film, by Cam Clarke in the 1988 English version and by Johnny Yong Bosch in the 2001 English version.
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